Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 18.11.2010

Determination of payment ceilings will not bring more balanced agricultural policy

A long-awaited proposal of the EC, which should indicate in more details in what direction the future shape of the Common Agricultural Policy should go, meanwhile only generally outlines a possible direction. It is possible only to agree with a principle “more balanced, more targeted and more sustainable support” which can highly hope to become an official direction. However, the CR can not state the same about the European Commission ideas regarding proposals of payments ceilings against whose implementation the Minister Fuksa will vigorously come out in frame of on-coming discussions.

Food safety: chocolate

According to regulations which are being harmonized in framework of the entire European Union, as chocolate (plain chocolate) it is considered a food produced from cocoa components, natural sweeteners, compensatory sweeteners or their combinations, additives or substances determined for aromatization, eventually other components (e.g. nuts, almonds, coconut, dried fruits). Milk is added in milk chocolate. White chocolate does not contain cocoa dry matter; it is produced from cocoa butter, milk or milk products, sweeteners, eventually from other components. (As cocoa components following substances are considered: cocoa crushed material, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, cocoa pomace, cocoa fat.)

Hong Kong has announced first case of bird flu in man since 2003

Hong Kong authorities announced the first case of bird flu infection in human being in last seven years today. Medical tests revealed the bird flu virus in fifty-nine year woman who had returned in Hong Kong from a visit in in-country China. An agency AFP with reference to health authorities inform on it. The woman is in hospital and her state is serious. The authorities find out now whether she tainted on Hong Kong territory or elsewhere. As a news server BBC presented, the woman reputedly with her husband and daughter visited Chinese towns Shanghai, Chang-čou and Nan-ťing.

FAO decreased perspectives of world cereals production in this season

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of UNO has decreased a prognosis of a world production for the current season till June 2011. The harvest will fall against the last season by roughly two percents and the world will have to be careful so that supply drop-outs would not appear again and another food crisis would not arise in foreseeable future; the agency stated today. The FAO decrease the cereals harvest estimation to 2.216 billion tonnes from September prognosis 2.239 billion tones. In the last season by this years June, 2.263 billion tonnes of cereals were harvested.